Propane forges aren't better than coal for detail work

I see everyone pushing propane forges for beginners, but I've been working with coal for 12 years now and it just gives you way more control. Last week I was doing a set of scrollwork brackets for a gate in Cleveland and the propane guys told me I was wasting time. But with coal I can heat just the tip of a 1/4 inch bar in under 30 seconds without messing up the temper on the rest of it. You can't get that kind of precision with gas unless you spend 500 bucks on a specialty burner. Has anyone else noticed propane forges struggle with smaller ornamental pieces?

3 comments

3 Comments

green.iris8d agoMost Upvoted

Did you catch that episode of Forge Talk with John Saros where he was talking about how he still keeps a coal forge for the small architectural stuff? He said the same thing, that even with a good propane setup you end up wasting time shielding parts of the workpiece with wet rags or something. I watched a demo once where a guy was trying to upset the end of a bar with propane and the heat spread way too fast, he had to dunk the whole thing in water to keep the rest from softening. With coal you just bank the fire and hit that exact spot. It's not about speed, it's about not wrecking the work you already did.

maxl938d ago

And from the sound of it you're exactly right about the heat control with coal, that localized heat is hard to beat for ornamental work. I've seen guys run those hobby propane setups and they're great for big rough blanks but the second you need to hit a small specific spot you're fighting the gas flow and wasting time adjusting everything. The precision you get from a coal fire is just more direct for detail pieces without having to drop money on expensive add-ons.

fisher.thomas8d ago

I've seen @maxl93 heat a three-foot bar with a propane torch in under a minute, so is it really that big a deal?